Posts made in March, 2008

I bought almost all of the groceries we need for the week and spent just over thirteen dollars.* That’s right. Thirteen. A one and then a three, and that included two bags of wonderfully discounted Easter M&Ms.** Wha?!

I know.

*Granted, I didn’t pick up any meat, but I could have. It would have been slightly more, but not by much.

**Most of the time you don’t have brand choices. The M&Ms were brand specific, but it’s not like you’ll stand and look at the milk selection and decide between Roberts and Great Value, or the bread and think “which one of these honey wheat breads has the least amount of sugar?” It’s more like “Do I need my frozen asian stir fry vegetables to be brand specific?” My answer, ‘nope.’ My food money envelope? Still has cash in it.

The days are starting to stretch out now into the long sunny ones that I’ve been missing. This winter was a nice frigid way to remind us that our blood had started to flow a little too Texish. Now that the sun is out and the wind less biting, Gideon and I are starting to venture out.

Last fall, when the air had already turned crispy, a friend chided me to “get out and stroll!”. And I wanted to, but I couldn’t seem to figure out how to go for a walk with three down comforters wrapped around my legs. Since the rebirth from the blanket cocoon, I am still testing out these strolling wings. In so doing, yesterday, we went to the park. On the way there, he was dead silent, which is his default setting for whenever he is outside of our house. Inside he is chatty. He has opinions about everything. He yells words and laughs at private little gibberish jokes he tells himself. He is effervescent. Then I put on his shoes and the switch flips. He’s somber and studious. He’s not amused and he’s counting the minutes he must endure all of this. He would especially like it if you would stop looking at him.

So, anyway, we went to the park. We went down slides. We were swinging. We felt the sand. We watched a little floppy haired dog go down the slide with some mildly sadistic teenagers who thought it was hilarious. We got back to walking before he was forced to do the monkey bars….

And he jabbered for the rest of the walk.

Not a moment of silence. He had something to say about everything he saw, or maybe he was just trying to convince me to go back and save that little dog. I’m not totally sure, but we’re going to go back today.

– While feeding him giant portions of food, he has always demanded more! more! and hurry! hurry! by smacking his little open hand on the high chair. We attempted to teach him the sign for ‘more’ and ‘please’. He occasionally tried to do it, but always reverted to the hand banging. It had a lot more flare to it. We also tried to teach him the sign for ‘all done’ so that he could tell us when he was finished. He never attempted the sign. He usually just stared at us and wondered which one of us had the hearing loss and why we were so bad at sign language. This week, after consuming twice his weight in lunch time foods, he very clearly yelled at me “All Done!”. I was a little shocked and thought it might be a coincidence until I tried to bring another spoon to his mouth and he yelled it again.

I did what every mom does and started calling the kid’s dad so that he could hear it too. And then my mom. And then my dad. Now he says it when he’s done with anything. His morning powershake? All done! Talking on the phone to Grandma Bragg? All Done! Getting his diaper changed? ALL DONE!

– He’s been very good at walking while holding onto whatever. Side stepping at the window is always a favorite. This week, he flipped over a large piece of tupperware and did this.

This past weekend was unbelievable relaxing fun. The days leading up to it were slightly more frantic. A week ago we were rushing around like crazy people hanging curtains and painting doors in an effort to have the house ready for Bible study that night. I know, right? They don’t really care that much about the curtains or the door color. But I do. I love to make things just so and then stand back and see how the peeps enjoy them. I’m that way about the stuff I make and the things I write too. I don’t really want anybody looking at any of it until I am ready. Ready may be while it is all still in process, but I’ve reached some sort of level of satisfaction that allows for input and judgment. Until then, I need to keep the curtain drawn.

Oh yes, the curtains. Most of them are up. The main floor still has naked windows offering full sight into our little fish bowl. Best to keep fully clothed when on that floor. Also because of the freezing. We got this giant bill from the gas company demanding we saw off a limb or sign over Gideon’s soul, so we turned down the heat. It’s above 60. It’s below 65. I am c-o-l-d. Gideon is fine. He is usually all warm and deliciously sweaty after a nap. My cold cold hands changing his diaper might explain why he hasn’t been loving changing time though.

I’ll post some pictures of the work we’ve done soon…right after I take them…which will be right after I pick up the toys, coasters and tupperware that are strewn about. It only takes a minute to put it all back but I get so tired of doing it that sometimes I just wait until 4:00. We’re getting close to that hour now, so you may be in luck tonight.

I’ll give you the lowdown on the weekend now…because you were dying to know, no?

Ronke arrived on Friday and we dined at the Family Lo Sole’s famous deliciousness. I had the Pasta Reggio. I am a creature of habit.

Saturday was Josyln, the zoo, eating at home and a little late night time at the Corkscrew. Ronke hadn’t been to our zoo before, although she has been to O-town a few times. Gideon hadn’t been before either. It was kind of disappointing for everyone. There were lots of cages and the habitats were very nice. Animals, however, were hard to find. We did hang out with some chimps for a while. Gideon liked the little guys playing and the daddy chimp wanted Ronke’s purse. He is apparently very into Tim Gunn.

Sunday was church and Charlestons (why they don’t have one of those in Dallas is still confusing me) and then shopping with my mom. Ronke and I did very well. No debit cards were used. Adam and Tom and Brad came over that evening. We watched a movie after they left. It was a full day.

Gideon is crying now so I better go get him from his nap. There’s a story about why he is taking this one so late today. I’ll share soon.

My dear friend Ronke is coming on Friday and we are using that day as a hard target for putting our house in order (no, we are not dead but you know what I mean). The paint has been applied to the main level (with a couple of areas of touch up needed [because nothing says painting like touching up!]) and the family room is totally done.

We just started in on the bedrooms upstairs tonight and the color we chose for Gideon’s room looks quite a bit like one of his old pre-real food diapers. I suppose I have a strong affinity to those days. I was getting about the same amount of sleep that I’ve had over the past four days back then. Somehow these late nights haven’t made me all crazy-sleep deprived neurotic like those first few months post baby. I’ll give a shout out to the hormonal withdrawals for all that instead.

I’ve been going non-stop for four days and had been doing really well (cheesy biscuits for Sunday school, watching my friend’s adorable girls, painting for fifteen hours a day…). The other day Jud asked if I was doing meth because that is the only explanation for all this energy and concentration. I suppose the thought of Kay coming just has me incredibly excited.

Tonight when I started seeing odd flashes of light while trying to edge out a nice shade of blue in the guest room, I realized that I am still human and not hopped on any illicit drugs, so I am home now and on my way to bed.